My First Lessons...

Surprisingly, I had quite a lot of activities packed in the last 2 weeks for myself. Here are some quite snippets of what I did:

My First Tennis Lesson

Went for my first tennis lesson last Friday. I was quite hesistant initially because I wasn't sure whether I would injure myself. In JC, we had tennis lessons during PE but I never enjoyed a moment of it (the PE teacher peppered our lessons with too much scoldings!). However, after seeing how enthusiastic my friend, L, was about tennis, I decided to give it a try. My first lesson was on the correct posture of receiving serves, both front hand and back hand. It turned out to be quite enjoyable because the coach did not give me any pressure. When my posture was incorrect, he would casually show me the correct position and wait for me to adjust accordingly. It was quite relaxing and enjoyable. I had lots of fun hitting the balls over the net... Though my arms were aching slightly the following day. :)

My First Visit to the Pet Shop
Fooled you! I wasn't talking abt real pets. This Pet Shop is a "Made in Vietnam" brand of clothings and accessories. I walked past the shop several times but never stopped to take a look, until last week. L and I had lunch at a nearby Japanese restaurant called "Kye" and dropped by Vincom Towers to walk around (and digest the heavy lunch that we had). We decided to take a look at the shop.. and gosh.. realised that it was filled with adorable stuff at cool prices! From children's clothes to bags to pillows and cushions, we were overwhelmed. We spent nearly one hour there browsing through the stuff... and I made quite a HUGE victory purchases at LOW costs.

Here are some of my proud bargains (for my three lovely nieces: Aa, Yy and Je):

Isn't this adorable? I like the design of the dress.. esp the drawstrings...

Aren't the kittens cute?

My favourite... I wish I can fit into one of these...

My First Taste of Omai
L introduced this to me and I don't know whether I should thank her. Omai is a Vietnamese word for preserved dried fruits. Since she offered me some of these, I went to buy close to 5 containers (like those round containers that our hawkers use when we tah pau wan ton mee) of omai.. and couldn't stop munching! I will take a bite after breakfast, sneak a piece after lunch and munch non-stop after dinner. Now I am addicted... Ahhh! Somebody help me!! Gone are my diet plans.. I have probably put on 2 kgs since last week.. from all the over-eating of dried fruits...

My First Yoga Lesson

Had a wonderful yoga lesson at Yoga Hanoi. I have been wanting to take it up for a long time but couldn't find any suitable (i.e. English speaking) and reasonably priced (not USD 10 per lesson pls) instructors. Couldn't believe my luck when I learnt about this new yoga place from my Hong Kong friend K, and it's only 5 mins' walk from my house! The instructor, Kirsten, was really good. She stressed a lot of making your body feel comfortable and enjoying the entire lesson, which of course I did. At the end of the workout, I felt stretched and relaxed. I want to go again! And K also introduced me to 2 other japanese friends: Ka and Ma. They are so friendly and kawaii.

I think Hanoi is beginning to get more interesting and enjoyable for me! :)

A Walk + Lunch to Remember

A Walk Through the History Museum

Today, M and I visited the History Museum in Hanoi. We have been wanting to do that for a long time but as usual, kept procrastinating.. after all, we will be in Hanoi for a while right? What's the rush? Eventually, we decided that today was D-day and told ourselves "no more changes". :p

Unlike most other museums that I have been to, the History Museum has a very "open" feel. The building is designed to make full use of natural light, by having lots of doors and windows, and gives it a bright and cheerful feeling. The museum has 2 floors: the first floor focused on the Prehistoric Times, as Ly and Tran Dynasties (there was quite a lot of emphasis on the great wars that happened in each dynasty), while the second floor contained exhibits on the French colonization as well as Vietnam Modernisation. Luckily, most of the displays had English explanations so I was able to understand 60% of what was going on. But I was vaguely disappointed that the second floor was closed for repair! Argh! I had wanted to find out more about the French influence in Vietnam... :(

Took quite a lot of pictures from the outside of the museum. Strangely, we were allowed to take pictures of the artefacts displayed for a nominal fee (VND 15,000 or SGD 1.50) but I thought it would be sufficient to just enjoy the exhibits.

This is the entrance of the museum. It used to be the French government office, so has a little colonial feel.

This picture was taken at the small museum garden, where you can see the side view of the building. Fairly impressive architecture... in Hanoi...

Evidence of the Chinese influence on Vietnam, then known as "吴越".

Cozy Lunch

After our museum walk, we went to an italian restaurant called "Il Grill" (highly recommended by M's colleagues) for lunch. It's located along Ba Trieu Street, two streets away from Lenin Park.

The restaurant is fairly small, with two levels. Feeling adventurous, we went up to the second floor and... ta dah! We found ourselves in a small attic!

The decor is quite pretty right? I would want to decorate my dining table in this manner too...

A look down the first floor from where we are seated... See the row of wine lined up at the side?

Of course, my attention quickly returned to the menu... I was quite torn between the "Salmon Fettuccine" and "Seafood Spaghetti" but eventally decided on the latter because I prefered white wine sauce. We also ordered a Tuna Salad for our appetiser. As I was busy taking pictures, M kept laughing because he found me really strange! Well, no harm right to take more pictures for my blog? I could even write a review on the restaurant with the pictures and send to Pathfinder who might (ok, low chance lah) just publish it on their website! Or I could start a makansutra in Hanoi since I love food so much... *thinking cap on*

Anyway, more pictures to whet your appetite...

The little cubes on the right are seasoned mashed potatoes and not cheese cubes as I originally thought. Quite yummy! But I took a picture because I thought they looked cute. :p

Our tuna salad which turned out to be BIG!

And my main course: Seafood Spaghetti. The picture doesn't look that good but it definitely tastes great! The fish, squids, prawns, crab meat, clams, scallops and mussels were well cooked, soft and tender, fully infused with the white wine flavour. The spaghetti had a chewy yet "munchable" texture. It was definitely a satisfying meal.. and the bill came up to around SGD 32 for two persons! Not too bad right?

I had no room for dessert after my main course, so we had to give it a miss. :( After lunch, we went to Hang Da Street to get some dried fruits (called "omai" which I CANNOT stop EATING) before heading to Dong Xuan Market to get a belt for M. This is quite a famous wholesale market in Hanoi and fairly interesting to explore, minus the jostling crowd. We went off quickly after making our purchase as it was getting quite warm and headed home. Though my meal has been half-digested, I think this definitely a good and delicious start for the weekend!

My Daily Bread

There is no punt meant in this title. I have every intention to share on what I consider my most satisfying dose of "daily bread".

I didn't use to be a bread-eater in Singapore because I very much prefer a steaming bowl of yong tau fu or plain porridge with "yu sheng" early in the morning. Blame this selective appetite on my doting father who used to spoil me by having breakfast with me at Chinatown Food Complex (now relocated to Outram Park) every day before dropping me off my work place at Raffles City. (P.S. He works in Tuas!)

Alas, when I came to Hanoi, my yong tau fu only appeared in my dreams. :( I was determined to seek "substitute" products to cheer myself up for breakfast. Since bread is readily available here, I braced myself for a series of "bread tests" i.e. trying different brands and types of bread from supermarkets, cake shops, coffee houses, etc for close to 6 months. At last, I found a close (though not quite the same) subsitute for my steamy, yummy yong tau fu... *Cheers* Without further ado, I shall now introduce my... Black Grain Bread.

Ahh.. don't be deceived by its looks. It certainly doesn't look as appetising as the Flosss Bread from Bread Talk but once you toast it in the oven, the aroma will slowly creep out and tease your nostrils. The bread is crisp (coated with a layer of sesame) and crunchy (with bits of pine nuts, macadamia nuts and flax seeds), yet soft inside. Coupled with a thin layer of butter (unsalted for me), it becomes a lethal combination! Won't you like to have a try? Oops, all this bread talk is making me hungry... Guess what I am having for supper tonight? *winks*

The Truth About Commas and Dots

Some snippets taken from the Vietnam News today:

Snippet 1
"Daily western buffet lunch available at X hotel. 320.000 VND only. Offer till 13 Apr 07. Come now!"

Snippet 2
"Growth of Y industry in Hanoi is expected to reach 24,6% this year, far exceeding the targets set by the government."

In case you are wondering whether there are any typo errors in the above statements, the answer is "No". The use of dots and commas in numbers here are very much reversed and it took me some time to get used to it. Dots are used as separators for "thousands" while commas refer to an end of a number, and followed by decimal places.

I remember the first time I tried to paid my maid $ for the food expenses (she helps me with the marketing sometimes), I made a little boo-boo. She handed me a book detailing the list of items purchased and final amount which came up to 245.500 VND (equivalent to SGD 25). I handed 500 VND (SGD 0.50) to her and casually said "You can keep the change." before walking away. She was shocked and kept saying "No enough, no enough!" while frantically gesturing. In the end, she had to take out the various dollar notes from her wallet to show me the correct amount that should be paid. That was my first lesson on the dots and commas in Vietnam. We had quite a huge laugh after that. Boy, was I glad that I didn't have to learn this in the market, where I will probably be shouted at by the shopkeepers for under-cutting!

Isn't it amazing that you can actually learn something new from dots and commas in another country? :)

Happy Easter Sunday!

Happy Easter Sunday to everyone!

The weather in Hanoi is perfect today, cool and sunny. Woke up this morning to some fairly nice singing in the neighbourhood. There are a couple of foreign families staying nearby and I guess they r celebrating Easter today. The supermarket near my house has been flooded with Easter goodies, like Kinder Bueno eggs, rabbit soft toys, sweets, etc. Though I dun celebrate Easter, it's nice to have this festive mood lingering around the neighbourhood.

M and I had originally planned to catch a movie at one of the new cinemas in Hanoi, called Megastar Complex, followed by a nice lunch at a Japanese restaurant. However, he is suffering from a severe stiff neck while I am plagued with a nagging body ache, so we had to postpone our plans. I was quite disappointed. However, I cheered myself up by cooking a simple lunch which includes spicy belacan kangkong! Okie, it was not tat fantastic but M commented my cooking skills have improved compared to when I first came to Hanoi, so I am fairly pleased... Now I m thinking of experimenting a new tofu dish for dinner.. Keeping my fingers crossed...

P.S. I like this bunny becoz it resembles a pink rabbit tat I had when I was v young. I will carry it around everywhere.. But it got v dirty and my mum had to throw it away. :(

My Shopping Expedition

Still reminiscing from the fun tat I had yesterday. Met up with two friends in Hanoi, L and W, and had lunch at "My Way" cafe. My husband, M, was the one who recommended me this cafe and I like it v much. It's located on the 2nd floor of a building opposite Espirit. From the outside, it looks v much like an art gallery but it's actually a cosy restaurant with a F1 decor theme. The food is pretty inexpensive and a Vietnamese set lunch costs about VND 32,000 to 48,000 (around SGD 3.20 to 4.80). Of coz, western dishes like grilled salmon and beef would be more pricely at SGD 18 to 20.

I ordered my favourite fresh Vietnamese spring rolls with prawn and pork. The rolls were well wrapped and the sauce was delicious, with a tinge of lemon zest. It was coupled with a nice smoothie drink of mango and thick vanilla.. Heavenly...

After lunch, we headed to a handbags' wholesale shop in Au Co Street where we spent close to 45 mins browsing through the entire bag selection. The shop looks pretty run-down on the outside but once u r in, u will find urself surrounded by shelves of neatly wrapped, reasonably priced embroidered handbags. At the back of the shop, u can often see young girls sewing the beads and glitter-stuff on the bags. Truly authentic hand-made quality. I decided firmly once again tat I will not make any purchases just yet (despite being tempted by several nice-looking bags), though L and W did garner some small victories.

As we were all in a shopping mood yesterday, we continued the hunt at Nha Tho. There, u can find a series of interesting shops selling clothes, accessories and household items. I was quite taken by a couple of table runners but found them a tad pricey (USD 15 to 22). It was really fun walking with the gals becoz we took time to explore every single shop, gave comments to potential purchases and enjoyed the process. It was really far more enjoyable than going through the same route with M, who always complained tat I took too long and constantly tried to convince me not to go into the shops becoz all the items were similar.

I invited L to a simple dinner at my home while W went off hunting the night market (held every weekend at Hang Dao street) with her bf. My maid whipped up a jolly good meal of clams, mushroom soup and home-made pork balls. Credos to her efficiency and good cooking skills! We ended the night with more chats before L headed home at 8pm. I m starting to plan for the next "all-girls" session already. Perhaps L and I can roam the night market next week? And definitely without our husbands. *Chuckles*

A Difficult Job

The most difficult job tat one can have is to work in the meterological station in Hanoi. The erratic weather patterns here, in my opinion, are beyond any capable meterologist's forecast analysis. Last week, the climate was hot and humid, with temperatures ranging around 28 to 31 degrees. Thinking tat winter is gone, I diligently packed all my winter wear in my suitcases and kept them in my cupboard. To my surprise, the weather changed to a cool 17 degrees today! When I woke up in the morning, my body was aching badly (becoz of rheumatism) and I realised it was back to the cool winter weather. I quickly scrambled to get my jacket out from the cupboard again. Well, I definitely welcome the coolness here.. but the crazy weather pattern leaves me v much amused at times.

Well, went out for lunch with M today before making a short trip to the supermart for our groceries. Special mention goes to the eatery Pho Vuong, where we had the delicious Vietnamese rice noodles. The choices for non-beef eaters are quite limited so I chose the only item available: Pho Ga (chicken noodles). Trust me, after eating the noodles here, you really won't crave for any of those sold in Singapore. That's what happened to me and M now. Talking about spoilt for choices... :)

April Fool's Thoughts

Happy April Fool's Day!

This used to be one of my favourite days in primary school becoz I enjoyed pulling little tricks on my classmates. Some common ones include teasing my friends tat there was a test tat day which they din study for, homework due dates being brought forward, etc. I do get a few pale faces here and there becoz I was known then as a "goody two shoes" type of student so my friends place a lot of trust in me (which I abused on April Fool's Day). Now that I think of it, some of the tricks were so "obvious" and it's really unbelievable tat my friends would fall for them.. but I guess we were all young once...

As I grew older, April Fool's Day became less exciting and often forgotten. I mean, who remembers a "non-public holiday" day when you r busy mugging for your "O" and "A" Levels? I was too busy then trying to figure out all the physics formulas and chemical reactions, as well as charting down my progress chart for the important year end exams. Taking a step back, I wonder if this was the right way to spend my teenage years? My life was simply focused on my studies. Sure, I did fairly well for all my exams (not incredible grades but good enough to progess to a good JC and local university) but as my mum aptly commented: I do not know anything beyond my cirriculum. I guess one tends to easily lose focus of what is really important in life. I wish I had a clear focus then on what I wanted to be as a person: a studious straight "As" student or an average grader who knew what was happening around him. Given a choice now, I would chose the latter.

I am not sure whether I am making any sense here.. but this is just my two cents' worth on April Fool's Day.. (",)